Serving Rural America Act
This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission to establish a program for awarding grants to eligible partnerships for projects that expand broadband service.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6456 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6456
To establish a grant program that provides grants to expand broadband
service.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 7, 2020
Mr. Wittman (for himself and Mr. Johnson of Ohio) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program that provides grants to expand broadband
service.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Serving Rural America Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Broadband service.--The term ``broadband service'' has
the same meaning as Broadband internet access service in
section 8.1(b) of the rules of the Federal Communications
Commission (47 C.F.R. 8.1(b)).
(2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Communications Commission.
(3) Eligible broadband project.--The term ``eligible
broadband project'' means a project proposed by an eligible
partnership to provide, to a proposed service area, that is
identified as unserved pursuant to section 3, subsection
(c)(4), a retail fixed terrestrial broadband service of a
capability determined by the Commission and that meets at least
the minimum acceptable level for such service as established by
the Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to section 601(e) of the
Rural Electrification Act of 1936.
(4) Eligible partnership.--The term ``eligible
partnership'' means a partnership--
(A) that includes--
(i) at least 1 political subdivision of a
State or a federally recognized Indian Tribe
(such as a city, county, wireless authority, or
planning district commission); and
(ii) at least 1 internet service provider
who provides retail fixed terrestrial broadband
service and is unaffiliated with the political
subdivision of a State; and
(B) where the political subdivision or federally
recognized Indian Tribe uses an open and transparent
process and applies criteria that does not discriminate
against any entity to select the internet service
provider as a partner or impose any requirement on such
entity other than an agreement to meet the project
requirements as described in section 3(j).
SEC. 3. BROADBAND GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Program Established.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Federal Communications Commission shall
establish a program that provides grants, from amounts made available
to carry out this Act, to eligible partnerships for eligible broadband
projects.
(b) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), an eligible partnership shall submit an application at
such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the
Commission may require, including--
(1) a description of the eligible broadband project
(including the proposed broadband speed(s) and proposed cost)
that such eligible partnership intends to undertake if awarded
a grant under this Act (in this Act referred to as the
``proposed broadband project''); and
(2) a description of the proposed service area to be served
by the proposed broadband project (in this Act referred to as
the ``proposed service area'').
(c) Selection.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall award grants to
eligible partnerships for eligible broadband projects on a
competitively and technologically neutral basis.
(2) Priority.--In awarding grants under subsection (a), the
Commission shall give priority to applications for proposed
broadband projects designed to provide the maximum level of
broadband service in terms of peak speed, consistent speed,
latency, reliability, and upgradability to the greatest
proportion of households in a proposed service area.
(3) Nondiscrimination.--In awarding grants under subsection
(a), the Commission--
(A) shall not discriminate against eligible
partnerships that have not previously received a grant
under this section; and
(B) shall not require grant recipients to be
designated as eligible telecommunications carriers
pursuant to section 214 of the Communications Act of
1934.
(4) Identification of unserved communities.--
(A) In general.--For the purpose of awarding grants
under subsection (a), the Commission shall find a
proposed service area to be unserved and eligible to
receive a grant if--
(i) fixed terrestrial broadband service
capacity, including any planned capacity or any
capacity under construction in accordance with
applicable deadlines imposed by a State or
political subdivision, is not available within
the proposed service area at 25 megabits per
second downstream transmission capacity and 3
megabits per second upstream transmission
capacity or greater; and
(ii) any Federal, State, or local
government agency is not already providing
financial support in that area to a broadband
service provider (including the internet
service provider applicant or any affiliate
thereof) to deploy and offer broadband service
capacity to locations in such area.
(B) Finding.--In making a finding under
subparagraph (A), the Commission shall--
(i) use available data on broadband
coverage (including the universal service
funding) authorizations overseen by the
Commission and confer with and obtain data from
the Rural Utilities Service with respect to
existing service capacity in the proposed
service area;
(ii) review any other mapping data that is
relevant to service capacity validation, as
determined by the Commission;
(iii) provide reasonable opportunities, as
described in subsection (d)(2) for input and
presentation of data with respect to existing
or already-planned service availability by
providers and other stakeholders including--
(I) analysis of third-party
datasets;
(II) data collected through crowd
sourcing of public input regarding
mapping accuracy of proposed service
area; and
(III) site specific testing where
mapping data is contested as incorrect;
and
(iv) post on the Commission's website and
publish in the Federal Register the proposed
service area and provide the public a period of
at least 45 days after Federal Register
publication to submit comments, including with
information that the Commission shall keep
confidential upon request of the commenting
party, to the Commission on the proposed
service area.
(d) Ineligible Uses of Grant Funds.--The Commission shall not award
a grant, or other assistance for the deployment of broadband-capable
infrastructure by a service provider that would be used to provide
retail fixed terrestrial broadband service and that would overbuild or
otherwise duplicate broadband-capable infrastructure that another
service provider is using to provide retail fixed terrestrial broadband
service in that same area as identified consistent with subsection
(c)(4), except that any other proposed area covered by the same
application as the ineligible area and that is identified as unserved
consistent with subsection (c)(4) shall remain eligible for a grant or
other such assistance.
(e) Public Notice.--The Commission shall establish a process
through which, before the Commission awards a grant to such eligible
partnership, members of the public and or any service provider--
(1) are notified that the Commission is considering
awarding a grant to an eligible partnership for a proposed
broadband project;
(2) are notified they may participate in a challenge
process to address claims about the eligibility of the area for
a grant based upon existing or already-planned provision of
retail fixed terrestrial broadband services; and
(3) have an opportunity to inform the Commission that such
proposed broadband project would duplicate existing broadband
service in the proposed project area.
(f) Broadband Build-Out Data and Reporting.--
(1) In general.--The Commission shall establish broadband
build-out, reporting, and accountability requirements.
(2) Build-out data.--Any eligible partnership that receives
a grant under this Act shall provide to the Commission
complete, reliable, and precise information in a format
specified by the Commission that indicates the location of new
broadband service the eligible partnership is providing through
the eligible broadband project.
(3) Date.--The information described in subsection (f)(2)
shall be provided to the Commission not later than 90 days
after the earlier of--
(A) the date of completion of any eligible
broadband project milestones established by the
Commission; or
(B) the date of completion of the eligible
broadband project.
(g) Federal Contribution.--The amount of any grant provided to an
eligible partnership under this Act may not exceed 75 percent of the
total proposed cost of the eligible broadband project.
(h) Technical Assistance.--
(1) In general.--The Commission may provide technical
assistance and training to any eligible partnership applying
for a grant under this Act.
(2) Funding.--Not more than 5 percent of amounts
appropriated to carry out this Act for a fiscal year may be
used for technical assistance and training.
(3) Coordination.--When providing technical assistance and
training to an eligible partnership, the Commission shall
coordinate with any State official responsible for broadband
expansion in the State containing the proposed service area.
(i) Relation to Other Federal Broadband Programs.--
(1) Universal service fund.--The Commission shall
coordinate to ensure that any grants made under this Act
complement and do not conflict with the high-cost universal
service support provided under section 254 of the
Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 254).
(2) Rural utilities service.--The Commission shall
coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure that any
grants made under this Act complement and do not conflict with
loans and grants provided by the Department of Agriculture
under title VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7
U.S.C. 950bb et seq.), including the Broadband Grants, Loans,
and Loan Guarantees program and the Community Connect Programs,
and the ReConnect Program.
(j) Project Requirements.--Any project funded through the program
shall meet the following requirements:
(1) The project shall offer broadband service with a
download speed of at least 100 megabits per second, an upload
speed of at least 20 megabits per second, and a latency
sufficient to real time applications.
(2) For any project that involves underground fiber-optic
cable along a roadway, the project shall include consistent
conduit access points, as defined by the Commission.
(3) The project shall incorporate best management
practices, as defined by the Commission, for buildout and
maintenance.
(4) The network shall be capable of, and the provider shall
offer to any broadband customer in the proposed service area,
fixed terrestrial voice service that includes the ability to
dial 911 without a mandate for the user to subscribe to
broadband as well.
(k) Exceptions.--The Commission shall grant an exception to project
broadband speed requirements in section 3(j) as deemed necessary to
allow participation by eligible partnerships in Alaska.
(l) Dates and Rulemaking.--
(1) Rulemaking.--Not later than 120 days after the
enactment of the ``Serving Rural America Act'', the Commission
shall announce a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal
Register, that establishes--
(A) requirements of this section, in addition to
requirements of subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), (e),
(f), (g), (h), (i) and (j);
(B) notice requirements for which entities have
applied to bid for funding;
(C) the results of the grant program, including
identifying funding recipients, the service area the
project will service, the type of service the recipient
will provide, and the amount of funding the recipient
will receive;
(D) broadband buildout milestones; and
(E) annual certification from award recipients that
identifies speed of service provided in each service
area of a project to ensure compliance with the
broadband buildout milestones established under
subparagraph (D).
(2) Funding opportunity announcement.--Not later than 1
year after the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall
announce a Funding Opportunity Announcement in the Federal
Register.
SEC. 4. INFORMATION SHARING.
(a) Information Sharing With Federal Communications Commission and
Rural Utilities Service.--The Commission shall share with the Rural
Utilities Service information received pursuant to subsections (f)(2)
and (k)(1)(E).
(b) National Broadband Map.--The Commission shall incorporate
build-out data received pursuant to subsections (f)(2) and (k)(1)(E)
into the National Broadband Map.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
$100,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal years after the date of
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 6. FCC REPORT TO CONGRESS.
FCC shall report to Congress annually on the progress of the
program based on broadband build-out data provided by grant
participants and data as reflected by the National Broadband Map.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
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